Cougars Rout Illinois Wesleyan for 2-1 Weekend
March 25, 2012 - The Concordia Cougars and Illinois Wesleyan Titans squared off at IWU's Horenberger Field this afternoon in the rubber game for the three-game weekend series. The teams played two close games on Saturday, each winning one, but today's game was all Cougars. Concordia rapped out 18 hits to support the combined efforts of five Cougar pitchers and take home an 8-0 win.
Sophomore Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant) made his first mound start since March 10 and had full command against the high-powered Titans' lineup. The southpaw allowed two runners in just one inning, the first but got a 5-4-3 double play to escape trouble. Thorsen allowed just three hits over five innings and retired the last seven batters he faced while exiting the game with a 5-0 lead.
The Cougars' offense got started in the third as Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) and Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) singled. With two out, Cam Stephens (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) and Anthony Even (Franklin Park, IL/West Leyden) delivered the run-scoring singles to put Concordia in front.
The Cougars added on in the fourth inning. Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) doubled to center and took third when the centerfielder had trouble picking up the ball. Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) followed with a smash past the third baseman that was ruled an error, and Miller trotted home with CUC's third run.
Miller accounted for the Cougars' next two runs in the fifth inning. Stephens and Rob Fioravanti (Evergreen Park, IL/H.S.) singled and scored when Miller's two-out drive to right hit the fence on the fly. Miller raced to third with a triple as the Cougars' lead increased to 5-0.
Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) took over for Thorsen on the mound in the bottom of the sixth. Cox retired the first two batters, but Kevin Callahan's smash up the middle hit off of Cox's arm, forcing the righthander out of the game. Kevin Pawell (Kenosha, WI/Bradford) entered the game and, after a lengthy warmup, needed just one pitch to retire Bobby Czarnowski on a grounder to second and end the inning.
The Cougars blew the game wide open with three in the seventh. Three straight singles by Even, Fioravanti and Miller started the inning and plated a run. Weis was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Santarelli followed with a single to right to score Fioravanti. Schulz drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly to left.
Concordia's bullpen closed out the game in fine fashion. Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) hurled two hitless innings allowing just one walk. Tim Milroy (Batavia, IL/Marmion Academy) pitched the ninth inning, allowing a two-out triple before striking out Johnathan Erickson on three pitches to wrap up the combined shutout.
The 22nd-ranked Cougars improved to 11-3 overall and evened the four-game season series against the 19th-ranked Titans. The team will host their first home game of 2012 on Tuesday afternoon when they play Elmhurst College.
